The Republican | John SuchockiSenior Airman Jennifer Grace of Turners Falls with her 8-year-old son, Ryan, who came to welcome her back to Westover Reserve Air Base after her six-month deployment with the 58th Aerial Port Squadron tha had been stationed at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan.

The more than 20 reservists were greeted by friends and family at the base after having spent the last six months at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. Members of the unit, which is based at Westover, handled cargo and processed passengers while overseas.

A crowd of about 50 welcomed them, waving signs and American flags as they disembarked from a bus.

But Staff Sgt. Noah P. Menard stole the show as television cameras caught him on bended knee proposing to his girlfriend, Ashley M. Judge of Holyoke.

“Yes, yes, absolutely,” Judge said in reply to his offer of marriage.

Menard presented her with an engagement ring bought by his family in this country and smuggled to him surreptitiously after he got off the bus at Westover by his brother, Air Force Reserve Master Sgt. Jonathan T. Menard.

Judge, who has dated Menard for three years, said the proposal was “quite a shock.”

“Just having him home is all I wanted,” Judge said. “I had no idea. I was just excited to have him home.”

“I’m just glad it’s over and it went the right way,” Menard, 32, said of his deployment.

His mother, Deborah A. Menard of Holyoke, was also relieved.

With the recent riots and protests in the Middle East, she said it has been stressful.

“You worry,” she said. “I’m a mother. I just want him home.”

The reservists flew home via commercial airline to Bradley International Airport in Connecticut. State troopers from Connecticut escorted their bus to the state line, where Massachusetts state police took over.

Master Sgt. Michael E. Lankarge, 47, of Conway said he was glad to be home and “walk on grass for the first time in six months.”

Lankarge, whose stint at Bagram was his fifth deployment, said he didn’t worry a lot about his safety.

“For the most part I would focus on the job,” he said.

Lankarge said what struck him the most about Bagram was how busy it is.

“So much cargo is moving through there it is amazing,” he said.

The Conway resident said he was also impressed by the heat in the upper 90s and the presence of so many young faces at the base.

The reservists processed 325,883 passengers, 141,332 tons of cargo and 2,536 tons of mail, according to a media advisory from the Westover public affairs office.

The Republican | John SuchockiAn International Security Assistance Force patch on the arm of a reservist returning to Westover Air Reserve Base from Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan.